Hockey Heaven

The NHL training camps have opened, which means that the silly season of speculation has started.

I'm going to lump the silly season into three categories: political, Halak and the next captain.


Let's start with politics. The Habs were recently accused of being (at best) not francophone enough and (at worst) an anglophone conspiracy to undermine francophone culture. The Molson family politely declined to comment, since this is clearly a "look at me, I'm more outlandishly sovereigntist than you" PR campaign. Prime Minister Harper, on the other hand, couldn't help but insert his unwanted 2 cents (also). I guess he gets PR points with the segment of Canadians who think that the sovereigntists should quit complaining, but it probably just adds a layer of tinfoil to the hat worn by some of these sovereigntists.

I want to be sympathetic to the sovereigntists. I really do. French is a lovely language that I have spent a good chunk of my life learning, but rarely practicing, and Quebec is a fantastic province to visit, even if every town has the same under-attended church as well as an art gallery with the same two pieces of art (soapstone carvings and painted recreations of The Sweater). But this kind of nonsense about conspiracies and xenophobia just doesn't help. Watching your culture evolve can be painful. All of my ancestors left the British Isles before radio and television were popularized, so I'm distantly removed from British culture. We never watched Coronation Street, and I didn't even know Brits did this until I met my wife. My grandmothers drank tea, my parents retained tea time without the tea, and I don't even do that. I'd much rather eat sushi or pad thai, than haggis or mincemeat. Quotidian culture changes, and that's a good thing. You learn more, you meet more people and learn about different perspectives. If you cling to the past, you lose touch with reality. If sovereigntists want to protect their culture, they'd be better off showing how amazing it is and watching it blend with other cultures and form a core to the future Canadian identity.

Second, let's deal with Halak. He's got a weak glovehand, and the fact that neither the Caps nor the Pens could figure that out is the reason the Habs made it as far as they did. He also gets better when you fire a ton of pucks at his chest or pads ... most goalies look fantastic when you hit them with the puck. I don't regret this trade one bit, no matter how awesome it was to go so far in the playoffs for the first time in years. Here's a story about Gauthier having to deal with criticism; here's one about the guy that came back to the Habs in the Halak deal, Lars Ellers, and here's one about Price stepping up to the plate (again this year).

Third, the Habs are expected to name a new captain any day now. Reports leaked that it would Brian Gionta (here, here and the original -for those who read French- here as well as a follow-up speculating why it hasn't happened yet here). It makes sense that they would pick Gionta. Since they waited a full year after Koivu left, it makes sense that it wasn't going to be one of the incumbent front-runners like Markov, Gorges or Hamrlik, and thank goodness it wasn't Lapierre after his stinker last season (I was hoping he'd go more Carbonneau than Tucker - I was wrong). This means it has to be one of the new guys (unless some unique locker room chemistry erupted last season from one of the incumbent players): Gionta and Cammalleri would be the guys who brought it productively and Gomez tried, but wasn't always putting up numbers. Gill had an outside shot, since he was a pylon on skates who somehow became a highly productive defender in the playoffs. If Gionta is the guy, then that's perfect. He's productive, passionate and gentlemanly, like Belliveau, Koivu or Gainey. All we care, as Habs fans, is that they win.

Some other Habs tidbits here and here.